The Sun. — London, England, 1810-12-12 00:00:00

I ALISSEIVA,' -1 Massena is known by the natnes of Ritoli, Prince of Essling, and that of the y'Victvy.- These different titles, as teat of Marshal of the French Empire, have been conic; red upon shim by 'Buonaparte. , Massena e is at present General in Chief of the army of Tortuga'. His age is about 50 years ; his height 5 feet ipclies,(F,rench ..measnre) , .Ins con . rrinil;on T robust; his fe:.ttures regular, his., tasnect sev,e%,". and "IA : look haughty. His tigdve 'iS iof the or(yilvlry \ , , ,51, hut his depot Intent is:that of 3,soldier. fps roar , ,e,„an one_. can one.cane perceive, by, his ntta4rieti 'that man of education. Thoogh born qtltaly,lie affects a frankness ..,which. is bele.c.f by his'aOlons. • ,• - 500137a.ithel agi and strength of Massena ren d-led him fit for sorvice; 'he enlisted as ,a private soldier. He soon perceived that his promotion de- InendeTon - the regularity of ilk conduct, and his iapvliceiPion t learn the miliOry exercise. . He suc cessively passed through the steps of corporal and serjeant, and was adjutant siib-officer at the period of the Revolution, in' Which he einbarked tvith.ar- Ilonr-for: the purpose of Mali ing . . his fortune. - When war was 'declared ,in . 170, he displayed a tgreat deal of bravery and activity. 'ln the Alps, on ifie side of Nice, he obt:sined Partial suCCSieS ; iu consequence of which he rapidly rose to the rank of General of Division.' During the Campaigns which preceded that of. t 790, M.issena was atter , Irately victorious-and beaten.- He commanded the right wing of the airily, of Italy. It was remark ed, that he owed his successes to his. obstinacy and audacity, rather than to his skill. Already it was said , of, him, '' that he fought like a ram, with his head ;" and it'nmst be acknowledged,. that he fol lowed up precept by . exatirple, and did nut Tare his person. Whenever he perceived a point where there was danger, and where his presence was necessary, he immediately repaired •thitlier, and was amitouS to be useful, either as a ,grena4ier A- general. , In 1793, ithitentete, a; Milesimo; and at the Bodge of' Lodi, be tccOndLd an:l ro ccived the thanks of the Directory, , As intrep.d as Augereau, but more politic, M s - send paid eourt to Buonapat te, in order to be stilt to :~ltiata With hii nit fuvour was gianted to Lim ; and he, btitle:4,,bad it in•eharge to atTange the, prcparations (or the triumphal entry of his Ge • neral in Cliicrit,tci the - coliital of Lombardy.. Sa , tislied with having obtained over his rival in' glory he'tecii a pecuniary •viti - cry, cri)4 to procioe from the good. city y Milan' 'recognition y the honesty cif his proceeilings. He had only made a few gleanings in the 4l : s, where there are many cheshuts, ,but little. money. ,Completely beaten at 'corona, on the '3;st — of Jti1y,1796, he retreated in the greatest disorder ; and his rout obliged, Buonapatte to raise the bluck ade of Alain ua. The successes as C:;t tiglionr , and at Lonado, having retrieved the affah s' of the l','rench army, 'Massena. was employed to prevent Wurtu r It - set from throwing himself into Mantua. He tnis tooi his advapced guard suffered ex eeedinely at, Ceres, e. here not a man would have escaped, had ;be Ansa' ian General 'knowa how to take advantaged tins o. portuntry. At e action of And di,. halite of Arcuie; Massetia was again tepuLed, atter losing a g , e4t mini) , wen in eac., ot : those bloody attacks. , • ,At Hit oh, where he was sPn: by Buonaparte 'to oppose Davidovieh, who had thlcated the•lett sting of the French, Massena fought like - a I.uu ; ' 'overwhelmed by numbers, he Was en the 'point Of • laying dowp i,is arms, when by a singular stroke ot fortune, Buonaparte arrived with a reinforcement of Iroh.troops, time enough to save hint. Any other Generalin his situation would have manceuvred, and retreated-in good order, for the purpose or drawing i:•.-ar his reinforcements. On this occasion lie coin inn t'.,(l a very great ernir, even in the opinion - at Buonaparte, in obstinately maintaining so dangerous • position To h's pertinacity', :which shotild have ended in, his •ruin, he owed all Ins suCcess; and it Was this battle which occasioned the title of Duke of Rivoli to be cooferred upon him. The campaign of t7s)7 was the only one in which Massena was nut defeated, because the Austrians did not think pro per to face'likOnt in good carne , t. I must, how • er, except the 'Caton:mister at Gradisca, stho, in closed in that town, which was safe against a coup= de-main, defended i,t for six hours with a corps of 3000 picked wen. • The bat:le of Tarvis, in which Massena defeated the rear-gwrd of ace Archduke Charles, has Ween pniked above 211 measure, An officer of the Aus- trian;Statf, who w-as in that engagement, and Who came to Willa, after the prehrMiarie of Ltoben, publicl); d,..d.ireCi, that " ti,ooo Austrians had checked the progress of P.:,tiou Fiend), and that those 6,000 were for the greater part new !evies, and o little accustomed to 'tin., tl►at he had seen several of them th:cl: when they . heard tf►e sound of their own artillery, and :turn tbrir heads aide as Ih'ey d:sclikirged it;eir This is tilt. greAl exploit of Massena, which made Buotivartegke him the name of." the spoiled (g,ite".) Child : of V ie ton ." This piece of fulsome adulation on the part • of -• he Gtneral in Chief was nigh being producti ye of a Very serious quarrel. Tire Marquis cie GallO;who pretended not to be very conversant with the _French language, thought to pay a very great compliment to M.0,0:,..na in telling him, atter lie bad been pre- . , tented to him by Buna:ipartc, " I congratulate my twit on becoming acquainted with the rotten (pourn) of Victory." " Rotten yOursell, Mr. Mat- quis," exclaimed Massena," siung to the quick by the impertinence of the "Neapolitan. Buonaparte inset posed, succeeded in appeasing them . , and it was agreed to s ubstitute the word darling for that of spiiied, • to prevent similar mistakes in tame. Upcn being - se t tt, to, Paris wtkii the preliminatiesuf the pe.t. e of Leoben, Massetia was, received by the Di rectory with the F,rotest distinttion. Among the unn,4 row.; eulogaun - that were lavished upon him 'by esidetn upon ihat occasion, ihe-tollowini wos r wa=ked as !)eing ti ery apvropriTe '1 he • `..." - . - . gr „ I,istory ,trati":l)itting to. posterity I he f rt kit'• of 'l,'LWnir Wilk!h ilityg i-he French I.lustr 01.4, Llotih:ltss will tier torget the reput licamCiernt'si, the brave Massene, s;) jteoly called the darling of Viaory." It would, in fact, be diffi cult for the historian to forget the audacity of this General, rind pal titular ly his love of plondee On his eeturn from joiped his division, the heat =quarters of which were at Padua, .hehad • for the teaa of his Staff an officer,.; who, to rely the, least of hirn,• was fully, as expert a 4 his eommander . , in the art of plundering. It was Adjutaet•General Solignac, who is at this mumeut a General of Di vision, under,General Junot, rim Portugah The ex tortiop must hate been eilorrrteaus, *ince tie inhabi tants were obliged to make rumplahos to Btioue parte, who affeeted to censure Massena. The latter threw all the bletne upon the head el his Staff, who readily consented to take all the fault upon himself, provided heewas pot called upon tpinake restitution. The robberies of .General Masssna formed the enb jeti of convsrsatiou of the whole army. The very soldiers were' ashamed of them ; and the officers felt the greatest tourtificatiou in being under NS orders. They were restramed by the presence of Buonaparte. They, howeVer, soon had an oppor tuonrof 'theWing their rest-omit:en. Masseeae.ap ppitned Gener a l ; n Chief o f t h e Army 'of Rome, set out with all possibfe (expedition for'this brilliant de stination. Already did 'he lusr for the chefs d oeuvres of antiquity; the rich camp the famous piettnes of the: great masters •of -Rory. • Whet tnOst .. ha%e been his estenisbinent, then, when he learned that he officers and soldiers efused to aek uowiedge hi4l! The latter assembled, before the gate of Iris pautce, and. saluted him wit h toe. follow ing expressiOns We will not ssrve under such a robber as Mes soon :. the gallows is his proper station, amid not at the head - of a 'French army." The., Geuerais ap peared confoUnded by_ this dreadful insubordination. It was, however, gi,im out that ,sbrne of tlisin were sees/ glatlest-wha: had - taken placeeliTia Teat tli y se cretly wicoureged the nedecoutews. Geueral Mireur assembled the officers atrt he' ca pitol. 1-Ie addressed thew as !fiends. He tepre sentedeo them " the indignation of the Directory cod all France, on becoming acquainted with such a breach of military discipline. lie stafed to them that General Massena would lot - gst ell thst was passed, provided the army returned to their duty; and be couch:l(U with assuritte them thet the Ge nteel was well inclined to do evety thing in his power tow ards providing fur their wants, . aged satis fying any claims they unght have." Notwithstand ing the attachment of the officers to General Mireur, the)! unanimously refused to follow his advice,. ob serving e--" that they had long known how ready Massena was to make promises; that his conduct at Padua was 'a pledge fur that winch he would follow at Ronie, if be was received We're; and that they were resolved nut to acknowledge been as Comman der in Chief." On hearing Iles, Massena did not know what to do. It .was said that his Aides-de- Canes could hardly prevent heist from blowing out his •brains.. Having been appeased, however, by some friends, he wished to waken fast effort. He endeavoured to conjure this - political storm by. filiry prociamatioes. Officers and soldier:, bate laughed at them. el'heir veciferation increased to such a de gree, that fears were entertained of their proceed ing-to violence. Massena was obliged to make his escape frets] Rome under. she shelter of night. The Dieeetory del trot tied it convenient to punish this dison‘eii , rice of their orders ; and to indemeify ::lasselia for the mortification he experienced at Rouse, he was appointed Commander in Chief of the i kraiy in Helvetia.• For the purpose of facilitating the opeiations of the Army of the Danube,. com as 'tided by Jourdan, whice was to act in Suabia, i'vlassena 'passed the Rhine: At er taking Fort St. Lucisteig, he marched towards Cuire. Al, hough attacked by a force tierce iimes greater thin that under his command, the Austrian General Atiffen berg defended the ground 'inch .by hie!). The fol lowing are the terms in which Massena gives an ac count to the Directory o f, th e b att l e in which lie took, this General prisoner :—" Tired by this long resistance, and wishing to strike a deciSive bleme.l ordered the battalions. of the 37th and 103 d to be formed into a condensed-mass, and in' this fermid able array I, made them match at a charging pace." He dearly paid for this slight advantage by his ab surd attack upon the entrenchments at Feldkirk.— He endeavoured to carry thetu. by assault six times in succession ; be was as often repulsed. General Oucbnot succeeded in obtaining possession of a height, where a few guns would have greatly an noyed the Austrians. • general Jellachich attacked . , it at the head of the Hungarian grenadiers. Eery ULM who did no: save himself by flight was put to the sword. Atier a loss of 6uoo in killed and wounde.!, Massena followed the muvewents of the Army a the Danube, which had been defeated at Hietlingen by hince Charles. Attacked on the left bank of the Rhine, he sheaved a good front.- Through obstinacy he fought several engagements; as useless as they were sanguinary, and Luck a posi tion on the left bank of the Limaih. At Zurich, he sacrificed, for no . objet whatever, a great num ber of brave men. He was finally obliged to fall back as tar as Mount Albis, where he took a posi lion, his right resting 011 the lake of Zug, and his lett on the, Rhine. The Archduke Charles having quitted Switier lindAvith a , select corps, and marched ros,v:irds.Alati- 11Lissena, who bad received considerable rein- foiceiwnts, and who was consequently much supe ior to the Austro-Russian army,' made various ridi culous ex.:uSes tor postponing the attack he was ordered to make. .13c-rnadotte was then ,Minister of War. The real motive of Alassena's inaavity was at 'length discovered. , A confidant of the 'Minister wrote Itjtn, that (lie Commander in Chief . was determined to remain on the defensive so long as he continued at the head of the war deportmeht (lint he was more than ever'. prejudiced against him, by the enmity which arose between them in the Army of ; and that be .would r:ot by a victory -ccu firm Bernadotte in an eminent .situation, which lip was mortified' to see him fill." The same Un'icei- _ . communicated, that General Sault had several days before presented w Alassena a plan ofattdck, wh eh was adopted, with this remat k on the part of the General in Chief:—‘‘ We will inakti: I,nl attack, my dear Soult, su soon as we can hope t o b e looked upon as the authors 4,t . the victory. At thts that intril;ner I4rnadette would nut tad to chitin au _ the ..inetit. - Ile kept his cord ; he attnr ked. as soon as he learned that the Micister was removed from office ; he defvated Korsakow and Hot ze, and compelled Suwerrow to tW - back into - the Gaion.. It may be asked,, what were .the complaints of itilissi,.oa against ,B , rnadotte ? 'They are asjollow : : The Ccfninanitler of the army of _the Sambre and „Meuse was leading to Buonaparie a division of 15,000 brave and well disciplined men. In appear .nnce they-were equal to the troops of the old Go veinment. They fought with as much bravery, and more steadiness, h:in the division of Massena. Fault ilium be tound with them. They were treated as Ai istocrats and. Royalists. The soldiers of Bev- ' nado; te's. division proved to those of the divisiOn of Massena, that they did.not join the Army of Italy to receive from it lessons . of bravery or pat, iot ism Massena was movtified by the superiority that the soldiers of the Army of the Rhine obtained over his in personal combats. He had. not the cindout !' remonstrate with Bernailo;te on the subject, who would have been happy to give him ample tiGn anci this 'lVliicsc'na had the rritNinness I'o post- . 1 pone_ attacking the enemy, until the the Munster-Was ' di4grAced! But if he a.tted unjustly impioperly towarots 'Bernadotte', he is to he praised for having (10ne jti•;ice-to t 1 author of his success ia, Switzer- land. Massena Its_ aL,knowledged that the whole of this campaign 'a a, tl,e ,at the protound me. daTior l s . and,, scit,otitie . cutubm;naorks of General Soule. ehatnpionnet fell in the command of tl•e - army of ..Ala , sena ,was appointed sty sticCeed him • Ile would accept the conunind'onl ; ' oil condition, that Should be assisted byi General. Souls, to , . bow :he considered his right ortn: dispatch e s to the Disectoty a n d t o the'. Minister of \V,O,-tie paid the highest compliments to the rare talents of his I fellow labourer s both in the cabinct and in the held. Alter . hav olg rtiolu‘ely 510C...tided the positions in the neighbourhood of Genoa, -Massend -was obliged to shut himself up in that city. He sustained a siege, or rather a blockade in it, the celeb ity of which,May be ascribed to the eNti - aordinary sOlienude sA N hich the arrival of Iluonaparte in the 4411)ese,eXciled Lord K.eith and the Austrian Generals, to 'induce Massetsa to surrender. They obtained by tia.teiy an advawiTe from. Massena that force could not' have extorted. • My . historical noies will citable the reader to form an estimate of this period of Mits. semi's-military career. He surrendered Geno.l ton days before t. 1 .1e battle of M;irengo,,which took pia( e on the 14dr of Jude, I son. Lois atiirtned that he could have protracted hiS defence beyond that time, notwithstanding the assertions of his histor au, Ge Thirbault, his former Aide. de-Camp. When Buo naparte learned th e . re a l situation of Genoa when it capitulated, he expresied his ilissatis'faction to.M a4 ., sena,' and deprived him of the command of the Army of 'tidy, which' he had conferred on him alter the battle of Marengo. Little afictied by his disgrace, for which he felt in demnified by the great wraith be . had acquired by iNtis , ena lived in great reOreitlent, some times at Paris, but generally. near Matinaison, -Ja a very fine country-house Which he had purchased, at , Ruelle, a large village situated near the great road which leads to the water-works at Manly'. He was appointed a Member of the Legislinv e Body. At th e period when Buonaparte , was nam e d Con sul for lite, Massena ptovt6 that he was by ito • means of a rancorous disposition. lie was fOrward publicly- adopting _every thing that could' be agreeible to 'his old General in Chief. He follow. rr ed the same plan ‘‘ hen the nomination of Emperor took phce. Buoraparte was forced to fork,-t what was odious in his conduCt at Gen6h, -and rewarded the'submiSsion of Massena,. by p:actog him in the list of Marshils t't the Empire. His, ronoriition to favour excited no surptiset It was lino Nu that he loved nothing but money ; end 'every' buck %VHS persuaded that he would humble himself until he had soothed' the wrath of [he,goltans i but all uti lb w ary men were astoni s hed w hen they learnt that he was appointed General i'n Chief of the Army of rtaly, in 1805. While litionaparte manoeuvred in Suabia with the - froops of the camp of boulogne;and destroyed an army of 30,000 Austrians uodk-r the orders Of Mack, Massena was getting beaten by Prince Charles at Caldero, in front of Verona, on the very same ground whore he had been overthrown by Alvinzi' in t 796. The army of the Archduke .. , as composed of chosen troops ; he had fin' battalions of Hunga rian infantry. When the reverses sustained-on the Upper panube obliged that Prince to sound a retreat, in order to succour the hereditary Provinces, Mas ;en i pursued him with much - less impetuositr than:‘ in 1797. He carried on hiS circumspection wo far as to let him get two marches a-head. He had his reasons ibr not pressing too closely on the Austrian army ; the affair at Caldero had taught Jinn to re sped - When the peace of Presburg had authorized the conquest of Naples, Massena had the command of the centre of.the T army of Joseph Buonaparte. . In the organization which the new General in Chief. gave to his army after his 'entrance into Naples, he afpointed Massena commandant of his right wing. 'He made him occupy'Naples and the adjacem winces. In 18tt7, Massena was summoned to the grand army in Poland. He corritnanded the co , ps• detach ed upon the Nalew in the direction of Druezewo. He had only to support one affair of advanced posts, which was at first to his disadvantage, b rt which he repaired by Ow arrival of all his troops.. Itt 1809 'Mass:ma was employed, in the grand, army. His corps not having been able to take any share in the battle of Eckniuld, he sensed there in Che capacity of Aidtf•de-Camp. Buon'apare says in his liullenn, that the Duke of Wvoti serked by carrying orders to the different' corps of the army. At the battle of E.sliog, he had to perform 'iziore important functions. He stood in need (4" a ll hi s. iirmaesi, to keep up his men wider a terrible fire of artillery and muskttry, \Ouch- could ohly tte tet.bly returned, in consequence . of Ike want q . ammunition. His,exidtict in that battle gaivethhina the, clue of Prince of 14_;ssling. • • AL the b:itt ecf Wilgram, Ma s.:ena was . complete ly beaten. The Iv bleb lie conmande ~ as drive n Ly Ge,,e'r;il au b yoad Enztrsdori The attack of Macdonald vu the ware haring cecife.i,,compelled Rienij to ict go his-luold a 11sOund a reheat. The sieges of, Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida di ) him little cre:!it. Tranquil in his head-quarters , he gave up these of airs to his engineers and his Ge" Demi-. Ks attack at BUS3CO covered him with disgrace; he there proved himself the Nero of Fel ( v kirk and of Caldero., It is even perceptible 03t he has degenerated. When a man is beaten, I° ought to have the generosity to admit it, in th e hi)pe of better fortune. Why say that he only inenot to make a take attack, jince his whole ar i l watt in line ; since they fought on the 26th and 27t h Sept. and si nce he acknowledges - 1,500 wounded,' a number almost equal to that acknowledged its th`f bulletin of the battle of Austerlitz, which was one) ,600 ! --We must n2cessarily despise the oflic' t who, from self-love, or from a JealnusY of the gloY of his rival, isub•tantially falsities relations which be' log to future.age,i.. The retreat to ,:intarem is f or L or J W e lli ngto n , vkriny,, m unexapled since 1792. Ma ssena retr wl tni •a I.llolltil presenc e o f t h e E ng li s h artnv, occu,ned a .I.:Osi.iion of 10 leagues in ext,tnt, and retires without firing a 1,1)ot ! Ttte lesFon at Bus 3e° has produced a great etreiti. What a change I hake examined, Nvith the greatest fj)e milliny exploits of Massena ; and I find hint ways unfortunate as General in Chief; unless )O choos e to ascr ib e to him the gaming 01 the battle i Zurich on .the 20th of Sept, 1799, which I ill proved ti) hate been owing.to the. t a l ents o r Genoa' Soult. His aiTiir at Cuire against General AtirlO: ber4, with 10,000 men , h e - too k 3000, (7,`"," wily he consid e red a ' s sim il ar to the bade of Tatc ls ' ill 1797. , • It is possible that, in tjme', the French army, 11 its great siveriinity in numbers, ma,: Otige the Ell e fish General to mancruvre up..ii ot;ler p o i n is Of t ; the Vrencl General a ill not Irivc pro, dured'tlik determination. His iulrrio ity is inc° ll ; testih:y proVed huh by ti l l; 6n-1,6 g .. aria ow., ~s rich precedect it. In doing justice to th e hr3vei we can only con.iir.ler him as a Gette° of ision, arid we will say it frankly, - Tel butte au second rang, yui s'eclipse au pretriier • MA I LS.' %I.E I Lisbon, I Malt; 2 W2tecord; 11(1i . V. ()I ; S . I . t)Ci•S THIS nA I' A r TWRI,VE . 1 5i Consols . 67.; Red. Ann. -66 a ; I' 1f E S N. 64. LEM t.iUIS UICdR6 rALSIUM AUDBAI? L 0 N D OE, WEDNESDAY, DECEMEKR 12, 1810. •1 Windsor Castle, Dec. iz, I;" ° ' " El.s MAJESTY has passed a good night, and pears much the same as be W 33 yesterday. • " H. R. ReyNoLvi.': . . • " H. HALFuE.r.k., " HE.6ERvI:S. • " \l. BAILLIF.. " R. 'WILLI, . . ship 'Porinnt l e is arrived :its riv held from the Mediterranean,. Cringing an eNtr j( ! r : Ainha . ,sador from the,De% of Algiers. Fiz is the beater of presents for their 'Majesties of ‘Palue and etiiioshy. by ihe Poi turze, Dispatches have been received froin Gibraltar tip :to the 26th ult. by which it 'T 7 pears ; that a formidable insurrection a;ainst Frendi hal broken out in tlie. Province of GrenZli, With every rpoTedt of success. Felez-Malaga and twenty-three of the neigh. bouring towns and villages were in arms, and sa le ships of war have gone from Gibraltar and Ce ttl ' i to assist the Patriots, and to supply them with ally munition and arms. The people . of the mountains . of Ron& . expected every day t o rise , a n d . unita their efforts,tsl the same cause. The Marquis Da PORTAG° °- General VAD ‘ ENEBRO, who have been recently Se". round by thenew Regency Co this neighbourli)°j'' are, from their distinguished charaelers, likely i° of the greatest'ierviCe to the patriotic cause. Geneial CA M PBELLIS (the G overnor o f Gibra'tir ' dispatches convey the very satisfa6fory intellig ence that the fever had totally cEsapbeared at Gibralulr'. where clean bills of .health.were issued on the 16 , 11 ' Nov. and the quarantine taken od Iroin the disio' that had been infected. " • Only six of tbi inh a bit an t s an d six be— longing te the 7th Veteran Bait:llion, have ilw a . o f this disease, the early suppression of which is - 413 . great peasore to be attributed to Atte zeal and Of Dr; Pysr, the principal medical Officer of 14) tarrison. It appears from the important PrOCI31113110:1 of the President of the United States, which we Yes terday laid before our Readers, that the American. Government instill aauated by t he same feelings o f . partiality towards France that it has manifesied some years past, and that it has gladly seized B" - NAPARTE'S very equivocal revocation of the Belli°. and Milan Decrees, as an excuse for renewing it' amicable relations with France. It may be sai‘ l ' that the President of the United States bad no tentative, because he was st r ictly bound by q)e: tize 414,